Lost My Pieces
by fuwacchi
Summary: You always took his presence for granted, always expecting him to be by your side. The thought of him separated from you never once occurred. Being together was just natural; no questions asked. Thus it came as a shock to you, hitting you hard. Before you knew it, he was gone.


**Title:** Lost My Pieces  
**Words:** 1,326

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Kuroko no Basuke_ and its characters.

-x-

You always took his presence for granted, always expecting him to be by your side. The thought of him separated from you never once occurred. Being together was just natural; no questions asked. Heck, everyone thought you two were the closest of friends and would remain so for many years to come, if not forever. You had to agree with them, though, despite not getting along with him in anything but basketball. Somehow you just managed to click together with him. It felt like there was a strong connection between you two, and you truly believed so when he smiled at you; because, really, how often did he smile? As far as you knew, he smiled most when he was with you and those smiles were often directed at you, _for you_.

Thinking back, perhaps you were too arrogant for your own good; overconfident, selfish, _ignorant_. You noticed that he had started to smile less around everyone—around _you_—but you didn't do anything about it. You thought he was just going through some rough times and left him to himself, thinking he wanted space. You expected to find him whenever you wanted because you've always managed to spot him while most people passed him by, unaware of his existence.

Before you knew it, he was gone.

It came as a shock to you, hitting you hard. The red head captain of the basketball club had announced his withdrawal from the club. You thought it strange at the time because you knew he loved basketball as much as you did, if not more. If anything, you were stunned by the fact he didn't tell you he was going to quit.

His attendance record showed that he was regularly going to school, but no matter how much effort you exerted in searching for him, he was nowhere to be seen. Despite seeking him everywhere, from the deepest crevices at school to the places he often hung out; despite how long you've been searching—how long had it been? A few days? A few weeks? A few months?—your efforts were in vain. His presence had completely disappeared and you felt so, so lost.

It was a like a piece of you had broken, and it hurt so so much; indefinitely so. And as you continued your last school year in middle school without him, you felt like a part of you was empty; and you continued to wander, feeling that way for a period of time, except it felt like forever to you.

It wasn't until a few months later when you had finally entered high school, that you started hearing news of him again. Gossip about the Seirin Basketball Club had reached your school. At first you had waved it off, thinking it wasn't worth your time. However, when rumours of Seirin beating Kaijou begun circulating around Tokyo, you were very much surprised. If you remembered correctly, an ex-teammate of yours, whom you respected, from your middle school went to Kaijou. You found it hard to believe that a no name school such as Seirin had beaten Kaijou—beaten _him_, beaten _Kise_.

Leave it to your childhood friend to search up the facts. Momoi had gathered information about Seirin and had excited told you about _him_. You were stunned speechless. Really, what could you have said? You weren't ever expecting to hear of his name again, and yet there it was, gushing out of your childhood friend's lips.

At first you were happy, thinking you'd finally be able to meet him again, but then Momoi had to go and tell you that he had a new partner, a new light. Rage took over you and before you knew it, you began to dislike basketball more. The thought of him playing basketball with another person—without you—shook you at your core. You disliked the idea of being replaced, and perhaps this was just you being selfish again. However, regardless of whether you were being an ass or not, the image of him and another cheerfully playing basketball together ate at you, leaving you feeling numb just as you were when you were on the court; you couldn't feel a thing.

And just like that, another piece in you broke.

Weak. That was your first thought of him when you encountered the new light. You couldn't believe he would choose such a weak person to be your replacement. Sure, the boy had potential but he was nothing compared to your natural talent. He couldn't honestly have thought he'd be able to win against you in the upcoming match with such a weak partner, could he? But crushing the person before you brought a smirk to your face, the satisfaction in seeing the man fall ran deeply through your veins.

Knowing that your replacement wasn't up to par with you made you feel better. Just a tiny bit. You still felt like a incomplete puzzle, though, having lost your final piece long ago.

Confronted by his fierce stare, his determination nearly made you stumble back. He hadn't changed as much as you thought he would've and that was nearly enough to bring a small smile to your face. Well, if not for the fact that he was standing on the opposing side of the court and not _with_ you. You weren't sure what you felt as he stood up, that small back proud and tall, despite the difference in score increasing with each second. Was it pleasure? Or was it bitterness? It kind of felt like both. You were glad you won, it felt like revenge to you somehow; perhaps revenge for replacing you? But at the same time you felt thoroughly disappointed; because despite all his efforts, he still lost and he looked so anguished, and your chest tightened for some reason when you laid eyes upon it.

Most of all, you just felt numb. Because despite how you acted like a jerk on the court towards him and his team (and your own too, you thought idly at the back of your head), you kind of wanted to lose. At that moment, you gave up. You gave up because there was definitely no one stronger than you. There was no doubt in your mind.

Imagine your surprise when you lost in the first round of the Winter Cup. He—no, they, the new light and shadow pair had came back and took their revenge against you. You felt tears sting at your eyes, but even so you still couldn't believe you had lost.

"Aomine-kun."

The voice snapped you out of your trance and you saw _him_ being half-carried by his new light. You felt a little jealous at that, but at that moment the anguish of losing was far greater.

When he stuck out his fist, however, you went blank, unsure of what he wanted you to do. No, you actually did understand what he wanted, but did you still have that right to do so? All doubts were erased from your mind as he smiled that smile, that smile that he smiled back then. The smile _for you_.

And as your fist connected with his, you felt as if everything would be all right. Despite being on the other side, you felt like you were finally together with him again.

"Thanks, Tetsu."

Finally. The emptiness within you, since he disappeared the year before, vanished as the missing piece was finally found. It fell into place with your puzzle, completing you, allowing you to see the world in a new light once again.

And you smiled back at him as he smiled at you.

Yes, everything was back to how it should've been.

And as you walked off the court in the opposite direction of him, you had no doubt that you'd keep in touch with him this time.

After all, without the other, the both of you were just pieces. However, together, you were one.

-x-

Just wanted to write a fic in second person as I've never done so before. Didn't really have a plot or pairing in mind, so you can probably tell that this fic is kind of disjointed. AoKuro just came out of nowhere when I began typing this up, haha. I actually wanted to make it ?xKuroko in which the reader could assume whoever the mysterious character was, but I failed at that obviously. From the high school period onwards, I was kind of like, "Where the hell am I going with this fic?" And I felt like I was just going around in circles. So ya, not exactly happy with how it turned out, but if you enjoyed it regardless then that's good enough. XD


End file.
